Plants Affecting Milk. 137 



finally an increase in the quantity, together with an improvement in 

 quality. Pastures or green cultivated forage containing many 

 buttercups should be avoided, since these plants are supposed to 

 produce red and bitter milk, especially before blooming. Meadows 

 or pastures in which Euphorbia plants are growing exert a bad 

 influence; they may produce enteritis with a fetid diarrhea, also 

 paralysis of the bladder and hematuria, and may even cause abor- 

 tion. The milk turns thin and bluish. 



Bluish milk may also result after feeding upon plants of the 

 Polygonum species, the ox tongue (Anchusa offic.), the cat's tail 

 (Butomus umbellatus), the euphorbia (Mercurialis), the marsh 

 marigold (Ehinanthus major), the forget-me-not (Myosotis), and 

 after feeding upon poppy-cake and green alfalfa. 



Red milk is produced by feeding blood root (Galium verum), 

 madder (Rubia tinctorum), species of Karex, Skirpus, Equisetum, 

 Ranunculus, Euphorbia and after the ingestion of young sprouts 

 of both deciduous and coniferous trees. 



Yellow milk results from the elimination of plant coloring 

 matter after the feeding of carrots, rhubarb, yellow and red man- 

 gels, and crocus. 



A garlicky taste may also result from feeding large quantities 

 of poor straw, and according to Werenskiold after feeding of flax 

 seed meal which contains large quantities of weed-seeds, penny- 

 royal (Thlaspi arvense). The taste of the milk may also be 

 changed by the ethereal oils of the following plants : 



Garlic (Alium ursinum), mint (Teukrium), hyssop (Gratiola 

 offic.), true camomile (Matric. chamomilla), and by rape, rape- 

 cake, oil cake, turnip tops, lupins and orchids. 



Milk may become fishy from feeding fish meal and through 

 pasturing on marshy fields which have been inundated. 



Milk turns bitter from feeding kale, rutabagas, turnip tops, 

 lupins, pea-straw, lupin straw, and sorrel. 



A bitter substance from chicory passes into the milk; the 

 milk may coagulate more readily after the ingestion of thistles or 

 sorrel. The ingestion of euphorbia, hellebore, rushes, and hemlock 

 twigs should be prevented on account of the poisonous qualities of 

 these plants. The secretion of the active poisons of these plants 

 has, however, not been proved. Hop leaves, especially those 

 sprayed with copper sulphate, cause a diminution of milk secre- 

 tion, or even a cessation of the flow. 



Concerning the elimination of medicinal agents with the milk, 

 or the influence of medicinal agents on milk production the follow- 

 ing may be stated : The passage of iodine into the milk after feed- 

 ing potassium iodide has been proved by Peligot and Stumpf ; if 

 however the iodine is fed in alkaline compounds, or combined with 

 proteins and starches, even when fed in large quantities, it does not 

 pass into the milk. In the latter case only the plasma of the milk 



